


Let Me Tell You About My Family

by LIngall



Series: We Can Take it One Step at a Time (I’d like that very much) [9]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Family, Family Feels, Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LIngall/pseuds/LIngall
Summary: Written for the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon prompt "Pride"Navigating fatherhood is hard. Most would agree it is even more difficult when you start off with a pre-teen son instead of an infant. William is adjusting too and is worried that he doesn’t quite fit into Oliver’s life.





	Let Me Tell You About My Family

**Author's Note:**

> I instantly thought of another family moment when I saw this prompt. After seeing the trailer from SDCC it would appear that William's family life will be challenging, especially if he loses his Mom (I hope not though.) The bedtime/too much screen time conversation is ripped from the pages of my real life - and my teenage son who is rarely compliant with his bedtime. Thanks for reading, I hope you like it.

<============>

Oliver was mentally exhausted. _"What happened to the, this is all just a formality, you’ll sign a few forms and be on our way,”_ as Felicity had suggested. 

He turned to her and smiled as he gripped her hand tightly under the table. The lawyer running the proceeding droned on about the various options for custody, _“why is this necessary, Samantha and I have already come to an agreement?”_

“We should be set, all the documents are in order. I see that Ms Clayton has waived the paternity test and has signed a deposition indicating that you are William’s biological father.”

“I also see that you are not petitioning for a name change, so he will remain William Clayton, is that correct?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

The lawyer continued, “One last item, in reviewing your application for joint custody I see you’ve indicated your marital status is now married, instead of single. Is that correct? That wasn’t included in the original filing.”

Felicity chimed in, “We just got married last week.”

“Congratulations. Mr. Queen, will your wife be added to the custody agreement?”

It was Felicity’s turn to grip his hand under the table as she said, “we’re only been married a few days, isn’t that a bit premature?”

“I wanted to make sure to mention it since it will require a separate hearing.”

Felicity let out the breath she was holding and visibly relaxed in her chair.

“Moving on, Mr. Queen, I’ll just need your signature on the bottom of the custody agreement, and also please initial where highlighted.”

“Are we done?”

“Yes, I’ll just notarize the documents and then we'll just need another moment to get you a copy of the agreements.”

Oliver stood up to shake hands with the lawyer and sat back down. The lawyer left the room, closing the door behind him. Oliver rubbed his face with his hands and let out a sigh.

Felicity slid her arm around his shoulder and said, “See, that wasn’t so hard after all. Just a few signatures and your legit.”

“I know, but whenever someone says, ‘It’s just a formality, just sign a few papers’ I get flashbacks to all the times I’ve been to court.”

“That is true, you’ve had more than your fair share of courtroom visits. Maybe this will be the last time.”

Oliver smiled and gave Felicity a kiss on the cheek, “What would I do without you? Thanks for coming today, I know you didn’t need to be here, but, I really appreciate it.”

“I know I’m stealing your line here, but you never have to thank me. Remember, partners.”

Before long the lawyer returned with the notarized copy of the agreement. _“On second thought this was the easy part. Now I get to be the parent on alternating weekdays and weekends.”_

<============>

Oliver approached William’s room and knocked lightly at the closed door. There was no answer so he opened it to see William sitting cross legged on his bed wearing his headphones and watching something on his laptop.

“Hey, William, time for bed.”

Still getting no response, Oliver was frustrated and walked up to the bed and pulled off his headphones. 

“Hey Dad, what’s up?”

“It’s time to get ready for bed, remember school nights mean lights out at 9.”

“Okay, I just have 12 more minutes on this video and then I’ll get ready for bed.”

“No, you will turn the video off now and get ready for bed. School night.”

“You're no fun anymore,” said William as he yanked off his headphones and slammed the laptop shut. He slid it onto the floor and pushed past Oliver to exit the room.

Oliver rubbed his temples. _“Great, now he hates me.”_ He glanced around the room, littered with dirty laundry and a basket full of clean items that were still not put away. _“I asked him to put those away yesterday.”_

_“He must be having trouble writing something, not that I can be any help with that.”_

William returned to the room, “See, I’m going to bed now, you can leave.”

“Goodnight William, love you, sleep well.”

He closed the door behind him and walked down the hall to his bedroom, shut the door and flopped back on the bed with a groan.

Within moments the door was quietly opening. Felicity toed off her shoes and tiptoed over to the bathroom. She began to close that door quietly as well when Oliver said, “I’m not asleep.”

She walked back over to sit on the bed, “I didn’t think you were, but the expression is let sleeping dogs lie. I figured I’d give you the opportunity to tell me what’s bothering you first, well before I pulled it out of you. What’s up?”

“You’re getting back late, did you have dinner? I could make you something.”

“Whoa there, not so fast. We were talking about you, not me. I’m fine. Curtis and I ordered in.”

“It’s William. He hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s just pushing back, being a kid.”

“Well he might not hate me, yet, but he did say that I was, quote, No fun anymore,”

“Oliver, you are the parent, not his friend. I know this is all new, this is real life, this isn’t 24/7 ballgames and camping trips. It will be okay. Now William has two parents that love him and support him. I promise that you are doing a great job. You pack his lunch and drive him to school, you put a roof over his head. That sounds like a great Dad to me. You should be proud of yourself. I’m proud of you, every day.”

Oliver sat up, “I know you’re right, but I didn’t expect the eye rolling and angst until he was a teenager.”

“Give it time Oliver. Relax. Is he asleep?”

“I hope so, but to be honest I’m scared to go check.”

“I’ll go check, you should get changed into something more comfortable. I’ll be back and then we can relax together.”

Oliver grinned and rolled off the bed to change. 

When Felicity returned Oliver was already in bed with the covers pulled back. He patted her side of the bed.

Felicity walked over and sat on the bed so she could give him a quick kiss, “just let me get changed and I’ll be right back.”

Oliver grabbed her wrist to keep her from moving, “Don’t worry, I can help you with that, Mrs Queen.” 

Felicity giggled as Oliver pulled her into his arms.

<============>

It was early evening when Oliver returned from City Hall and a stop at his new campaign office. He opened the door to the apartment to see Felicity and William at the dining room table deep in conversation. Oliver marveled at how naturally Felicity’s and William's’ relationship had evolved. No yelling or fussing, she would smile and William would say, ‘okay.' _“Must be genetic, she smiles at me and I’m willing to do just about anything too,”_ thought Oliver.

“So now you’ve got your opening paragraph finished and your three main points. How long does your speech need to be?” asked Felicity.

“No more than ten minutes, I’m supposed to time it so I don’t talk too long.”

“Well, why don’t you work some more on those main points for your rough draft while I check in with your Dad.”

William turned around in his chair to see Oliver and then went back to his work.

“Hey Oliver, do you need me to heat something up for you? As you remember I am authorized to use the microwave.” 

“No thanks, I’m all set. We brought in some dinner for the campaign staff since our strategy session went long. I had forgotten that late nights are the rule rather than the exception with a campaign. Last time around I didn’t also have a full time job.” 

“So how are things with William? I see that you got him to do his homework right after dinner, gold star to you Felicity.”

“Well, I did promise some ice cream and TV if he could finish everything by 8 pm, so technically a bit of a bribe, but it did seem to motivate him.”

“What is he working on?”

“A speech for parent night next week. I figured you already knew about that.”

“No, remember, he doesn’t tell me anything voluntarily.”

“Why don’t you go and see if he needs any more help,” Felicity added giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey buddy, how was your day?”

“Okay I guess,” answered William, not looking up from his papers.

“Good, Felicity said you were working on a speech. What’s your topic?”

“Nothing very interesting, I’m done with my rough draft so I’m moving on to some math homework - I need to get it done by 8 o’clock.” William quickly shoved the loose leaf pages under his blue binder and pulled out a math worksheet. 

“I know, Felicity said, ice cream and TV if you finish early. What are you guys going to watch?”

“Not sure, maybe Classic Dr. Who.”

“Sounds great, let me know if you need help with your math homework, on second thought, let Felicity know, she’s much better at that than I am. Her math is always right.”

“Right you are Oliver. Scoot, go relax for a while, I’ll call you when we’re ready to watch some TV.”

“Perfect,” sealing it with another kiss.

“Eww, Dad, Felicity, don’t you remember your promise about kissing,”

Felicity chimed in, “Sorry William, I forgot, you Queen men are totally irresistible,” as she bent down to kiss the top of his head. 

“Enough kissing, Felicity can you just come back in a few minutes to check my math homework for me.

“Sure thing, just holler when you’re ready.”

<============>

The auditorium buzzed with conversation. Samantha and Felicity were chatting quietly. Oliver just felt awkward. He looked around the room at all the other parents and families, _“I am so out of my element here,”_ he thought. 

Lights were dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd as the principle approached the podium.

“Good evening, students, parents, families and community members. Welcome to our annual Parent and Families event. We’ll begin with a few of our 5th grade students speaking on the topic of **‘Let Me Tell You About My Family’**. After the speeches you're invited to visit to your student’s classroom to see examples of their work and participate in some fun literacy activities.”

Oliver panicked on hearing the speech topic and turned to Felicity, “Did you read his speech Felicity?”

“Only the first draft, but don’t worry, your son won’t be sharing any special family secrets.”

Felicity placed her hand on his knee, “It will be fine, shh.”

Before each student’s name was announced, Oliver shifted in his chair, waiting for William’s name to be announced. _“Just my luck, he’d be last,”_ thought Oliver as he clapped for student who had just finished his speech.

“And last we have William Clayton,” Oliver leaned forward as William moved to the podium.

“Good evening everyone, my name is William Clayton and I’m ten years old, I just moved here to Star City a few months ago.”

Oliver held his breath as William began his speech, “I’m here tonight to tell you about my family. Firstly I’d like to talk about my Mom. She'll always there to help and she makes the best pancakes in the entire world...” 

“Another person in my family is Felicity. She just married my Dad. She helps me with my homework and is teaching me how to program my own video games…”

“I’m still getting to know my Dad. He works late most nights but he never forgets to tuck me in when I stay at his house. He never yells, even when I’m not too happy about my bedtime...”

Oliver chuckled as William continued. “So in closing, I’m very lucky to have my Mom, my Dad and Felicity to love me, to teach me, and to push me to be a better person. I love you Mom, Dad and Felicity. Thank you.” The audience again broke into applause. Felicity leaned over and said, “He did a great job. See Oliver, he doesn’t hate you, he loves you.”

They rose from their seats and moved to greet William as he came down from the stage. William hugged Samantha and then moved on to hug Felicity. William hesitated a bit when he reached Oliver. 

Oliver squatted down to look him in the eye, “Great job William. I know I’ve missed out on so many really important things in your life, but I promise you that I’ll do my best not to miss anymore in the future. I’m so proud of you. I may be a bit biased but I think you gave the best speech of the bunch.”

William lunged at Oliver and gave him a tight hug. Tears filled Oliver’s eyes. 

Oliver pulled back a bit and said, “I know it's a school night, but how about we bend the rules a bit. How does a milkshake and fries at Big Belly Burger sound? After we visit your classroom of course.”

“Sounds great Dad.”

“You don’t have any homework, do you?” Oliver questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Nope, all our teachers gave us the night off due to the speech presentations.”

“Samantha, would you like to join us?”

She nodded her head and fell in next to Felicity as they followed Oliver and William out of the auditorium.

“Thanks for coming Dad,”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”


End file.
